Desperately seeking ..... kuih

We have a potluck party today and I was assigned to bring kuih-muih Melayu. It is going to be a small gathering of 15 people, so I thought this one would be kacang.
But no! It wasn't easy. I went to the local wet market and food court. I wanted to place an order but my neighborhood kuih sellers insisted on a minimum order of 50 pcs or a loyang . And they only made karipap and pulut panggang, or whatever. I asked for kuih cara, they said, no can't do. Alhamdulillah, a friend brought some kuih to the office last week, and they all tasted nice. She said she bought it from ....a Mobil petrol station off Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi. So I scurried over and to my delight, there were many types to choose from.

So for today's makan, I have just collected my order for kuih kole kacang, seri muka and cara berlauk. They look nice, they taste wonderful-- so I don't mind paying. Seriously, this kuih business can be taken on if anyone is looking for an idea. Indeed, there is a market for it.

One Friday Night

This writeup appears on http://tangisanbulanmadu.blogspot.com which echoes my general sentiment about the series.

ONE FRIDAY NIGHT

I've always believed Friday nights were meant for anywhere but home. Until an unusual Friday came along out of nowhere. I didn't know an innocent visit to grandma's crib could cause such a stir in the being that is me. The stir came in the form of Nur Kasih (Light of Love).

Hollywood has always been my brand of heroin. My affection with the Malay entertainment industry began with Tan Sri P Ramlee and ended with P Ramlee The Musical. In between them lies the late and great director Yasmin Ahmad's invalueable Petronas commercials. Truth be told, I am the least interested in Malay films and dramas. I find them rather similar and mediocre. High expectations or not, a drama should be awe inspiring, with a pinch of uniqueness, a sense of familiarity and a touch of originality. Add those up and you get Nur Kasih.

The 26 episodes drama, said to be inspired by Indonesian blockbuster Ayat-Ayat Cinta (Letters of Love), is a tale of redemption and realisation. Being a non subscriber for Sensasi (the Starhub channel which is airing Nur Kasih here in Singapore), I was intrigued by the sneak preview I caught at Grandma's place (where Sensasi was at) . Thus one Friday night, I gave the drama a shot. In return, it gave me an engaging plot which made me hook, line and sinker. For once, I didn't yawn at the thought of a Malay drama.

My jaw first dropped at the cinematography of the drama. Each scene was shot tremendously well especially the flashbacks. They were nothing short of perfect. I gave the plot my green light and mid way through the drama, it has yet to disappoint. The pace of the story, as it unfolds, is just about right although I do have problems with the slightly long timeline which is minor. Even the background music played was soothing and heart wrenching enough to toy with emotions. Kudos to Kabir Bhatia for bringing the story to life, capturing the essence of each scene in an integral angle. While he breathes life into the story, the team of scriptwriters, Mira Mustaffa, Mariana Hashim and Maizura Mohd Ederis are the heartbeat of it. The dialogues written are simply phenomenal that it brought us the same anguish, misery and guilt portayed by the cast. The cast definitely brought their characters to life as well.

While I am only familiar with Dato' Jalaluddin Hassan, I had never heard of the rest of the cast prior to Nur Kasih. Even for a few episodes, Dato Jalaluddin Hassan stood out, proving what a versatile actor he is till today, potraying a strict father with a religious upbringing he adhered to. Liza Othman as the mother delivered some of the best dialogues thus far. Sharifah Sofea was in a familiar territory who added a different dynamic to her sub plot. The scene between her, Adam (Remy Ishak) and Nur Amina (Tiz Zaqyah) belonged to Sharifah Sofea by far. Although I believe no one in this world is as angelic as Aidil but Fizz Fairuz as a filial son and doting brother had me almost convinced. Ummi Nazeera as the devilish step sister worked out pretty well as audience would love nothing more than to hate her character, Sarah.

The most convincing of the lot had to be Remy Ishak as the bad boy gone good Adam. I believed him when he was bad as much I believed him when he turned good. The last but certainly not the least, the debut of lead actress, Tiz Zaqyah Razak, just how did she fair? If Remy is the convincing one, let me introduce you to the promising one. Nothing short of sensational, she proves to be a natural as the persevering good girl, Nur Amina. Her misery made us teared while her smile is just as contagious. More than that, the on screen chemistry between Remy Ishak and Tiz Zaqyah reminded me of the chemistry shared between Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock (pardon the Hollywood comparison). It is just as sizzling, making the viewers anticipate their interaction in each episode. From a mere audience, I turned into a fan.

In a nutshell, Nur Kasih is a drama of relationships of many kinds. Relationships of a being to the parents, of the parents to the children followed by the kinships of siblings and friendship. It also portrays the ties of two generations of husbands and wives, more importantly it depicts the ties between God and human. These are the ties that bind. Even if it is broken, it can be fixed, in due time. It is a tale of sacrifice, of ignorance, of responsibility and of love. The drama dives deep into Islam for a better understanding of the misunderstood religion. From a sacrifice of a brother, to a repentance of a husband, to an acceptance of a wife, it goes to show there is light at the end of every tunnel.

Travel bug

The travel bug is biting me again. How apt I found these on emilayusof.com. Thank you Emila Yusof for sharing your  lovely illustrations. Enjoy!

My take on NKTM

I watched the dvd before I watched the series in completion but after I watched a few condensed videos of the series some fans put up at youtube. So I have formed an expectation going in. And perhaps that is the cause of my unhappiness with the movie. 

A scene filmed at Wadi Ram, Jordan

Warning. There will be more negativity after this. I sincerely apologize. But I have to be honest. 

*SPOILER ALERT*

Nur, Adam and Aidil looked the same, but they seemed distant from the characters of the series. Granted the movie picked up six years after the series ended, and granted the characters have lived their lives over time, thus the changes. But Nur and Adam couldn't have given up their architectural career to become volunteers, right? Or were they still architects? No hints to that at all. 

The movie was depressingly dark. And I was watching it in my living room. In a cinema, I imagine the effect would be more enveloping. The scenes were short and did not linger, and sadly the dialogue so sparse, that left me with little to enjoy. I think the dialogue in the series was one of the key factors that made it a phenomenon. Moreover, I felt forced. Forced to laugh and to cry. The comedy sequence when Adam became over exuberant with Nur’s pregnancy failed; it was too cliché; it's something you’d find in a Hindi movie.  I couldn't muster a chuckle. 

The scenes of joy were brief as the movie was filled with sadness and melancholy. Poor Nur, she still could not find happiness after all this time.The direction was focused on pulling at your heart strings. I did cry a little  when Aidil slumped to the floor in grief, but that was about it.The rest of the time, I was numb.   

With regards to the new characters, I felt zero connection. The inclusion of the troubled youths was solely for the lead-in for the organ donation plot later. Was it the heart or spleen? By the time I got to that part, I was beyond caring.  

My biggest problem was with the ending. At the start of the movie, we believed that Nur and Adam were living in the current time frame, i.e 2011, 2012. And the movie ended with Nur aged and Adam gone; in what year would that be?  2042? 2050?  So, why is the set still look the same? The house, the padi field, the TREE? 

I felt old and tired as they rolled the credits. 

The main players

Am I disappointed? YES, big time. I wish the director and writer have not put a seal on the story. I wish they had done what Richard Linklater did to "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset". The possibility of a sequel or sequels will keep the fans excited and CURRENT. Besides, just imagine the money potential of those sequels. So sayang!

I did get some of my money's worth from  “The Making of Nur Kasih” video that was included in the DVD that I watched it twice. I don’t know when I will re-watch the movie. It still pains me. Thank God for the series.

Update: I am watching the series for the 3rd time this year (27/10/12) and am still delighted with its brilliance. So I am going to pretend this movie never happened!

Fun with Photoscape

This useful FREE software may turn your sad-looking photos into professionally-shot photos. It empowers you to edit and have fun. Yang gelap boleh diterangkan. Yang terang, boleh dikaburkan. Dan sebagainya. Here are some examples:

All pictures are credited to Lin Ajis. If you need tutorial, just search them at youtube. You have been pre-warned: This could be addictive.

Grand wedding

On 3rd June, I attended a wedding of my client, Jay at Dewan Merdeka, PWTC.

I have no photos of the bride and groom, but I have the photos of the celebrity emcees, Engku Azmin and Suraya Hot FM. I was wondering how the family managed to hire these people. It was later revealed that the bride's brother is Ikhwan, the Hot FM DJ. (Honestly I only got to know these names and faces recently.)

The highlight of the ceremony was the surprise appearance of the singer Alyah who dashed from a concert at Stadium KL to be at her pet-sister's wedding. I was hoping she'd sing "Kisah Hati" but she did Sheila's Majid's "Dia" and an English song instead.

Suraya, Engku Azmin and Ikhwan. Picture taken from Engku Azmin's twitter.

View from my table

Alyah

Acting from a hunch, I googled the bride's name. Ah ha. just as I expected. She was a singer of some repute and was a child actress. No wonder she sang like a pro when she serenaded the guests with a song.

I came as usual without a plus-one. Luckily I was seated with my (senior) Uni friends who are also parents-in-law to Ashraf Muslim. Talk about my brush with celebs and near celebs. Last night I hit the jackpot.

Update: Here's a photo of Jay and Erna, courtesy of Engku Azmin.

Double birthdays

The time came for our annual combo birthdays. On 2nd of June, the family was treated to a marble-cake Angry Bird for Hakeem and chocolate cake with Ariel-the-not-so-little-mermaid perched atop it for Maisarah. She got to wear her princess gown I bought in Jakarta a year ago complete with tiara, wand and wings. The gown is meant for a 12-year old, but the 8-year old Maisarah will soon outgrow the outfit in a few months.

There were 300 sticks of satay, beehoon, pulut kuning, karipap and watermelon.

I think it would be the last for Hakeem for he would be in secondary school next year. 

A day with Don Daniyal

Back in 2008, I visited Egypt with a group of Malaysians led by an Ustaz who was a graduate of Al Azhar University. Naturally he would engage students to take us around. We were there for 10 days, so we managed to cover several places. Some of the guides worked with us for a few days.  On the day we travelled to Iskandariah (Alexandria or Alex for short), we had a new face to lead our entourage. His name was Don Daniyal. Yes, the famous Ustaz Don! Of course, he was still a student then. But he already had a reputation as an excellent and popular student.

And soon we got to see why he was much endeared by many. He was gentle, polite and funny. Our group loved him instantly. We started out from Cairo early in the morning and returned quite late at night, so we spent close to 18 hours with him. But that was the only day we had him as our guide.

Ustaz Don storied us in the bus on route to Alex

Usta Don in front of Masjid Nabi Danial, Alex

MashaAllah! I am not surprised he has his own show on Astro and is a very popular speaker in the ceramah circuit.  My friends, nephews and nieces adore him. He's a brilliant guy, but I don't really care for his style of dakwah. S why do I bother to blog about him?

So that you all know........ I knew him FIRST!!!

I lucked out because I still keep this video below showing a snippet of him telling us about the history of Alexandria.